Price,  jj  Cents. 

f 

Brooklyn's  Neglected 
Battle  Ground 


FIRST  BATTLE  AFTER  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE —  FIRST 
AS  A  NATION  —  NOW  ONE  OF  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT  HISTORIC  SCENES 
OF   THE   AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.       LORD  STIRLING  IN  FOREGROUND 


By    CHARLES    M .  HIGGINS 


lEx  ICibrtH 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Ever  thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2014 

http://archive.org/details/brooklynsneglectOOhigg 


BROOKLYN'S  NEGLECTED 
BATTLE  GROUND 


BY 

CHARLES  M.  HIGGINS 


W  I  T  T  E  R  A  x  p  KIN  T  N  E  R 
NEW   YORK        503  FIFTH  AVENTJE 


COPYRIGHT,  1910,  BY 
WITTER  &  KINTNER. 


FOREWORD. 


OCAL  history,  as  an  investment,  is  not  held  in  high 


favor  by  publishers.  Therefore,  it  was  with  consider- 
able trepidation  that  we  undertook  the  production  of  what 
some  may  regard  as  "Brooklyn  history,  but  which  is,  really, 
national  in  significance  and  importance. 

It  was  not  until  the  publishers  became,  after  investiga- 
tion, imbued  with  some  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  author 
— who  was  inspired  first  by  the  Grube  painting,  and  then 
by  the  present  pathetic  condition  of  the  scene  depicted — 
that  we  concluded  to  share  with  her  the  large  task  of  pre- 
senting the  matter  to  the  world,  and  this  in  a  form  which, 
as  to  literary  worth  and  outward  attractiveness,  would  be 
so  strong  that  the  subject  could  no  longer  be  ignored. 

Such  being  our  attitude  before  the  publication  of  The 
Stone  House  at  Gowanus,  we  were  agreeably  surprised 
at  the  reception  accorded  the  book ;  and  even  more  so  by 
the  prompt  recognition  of  Brooklyn's  duty  in  the  matter  of 
restoration — and  this  by  some  of  those  most  able  to  arouse 
and  to  lead  slumbering  public  sentiment  in  the  great  "City 
of  Churches,"  if  not  of  monuments. 

It  so  happened,  because  of  previous  acquaintance,  and 
his  connection  with  one  of  Brooklyn's  proudest  institutions, 
as  well  as  his  editorship  of  its  one  magazine — The  Insti- 
tute BULLETIN — that  an  advance  copy  was  sent  to  Pro- 
fessor  Franklin  YY.  Hooper.  His  far-sighted  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  Brooklyn  was  demonstrated  anew  by  his  in- 
stantaneous recognition  of  the  situation,  and  by  his  equally 
prompt  determination  to  do  his  share  toward  redeeming 
her  reputation.  Consequently,  the  first  account  of  the  book 
appeared,  on  January  first,  in  the  IU'Leetix  ok  the  Brook- 
lyn Institute  oe  Arts  and  Sciences;  and  the  second, 
in  the  BROOKLYN  DAILY  EAGLE  of  the  following  day — a 
striking  news  article. 


? 


In  these  two  publications  such  space  was  given  to  text 
and  illustrations  that  immediately  there  arose  wide-spread 
interest,  not  only  in  Brooklyn,  but  throughout  the  country. 
The  quotations  from  the  Boston  Transcript,  the  Phila- 
delphia North  American,  and  The  Literary  Digest, 
elsewhere  given,  are  among  those  which  indicate  the  na- 
tional importance  of  preserving  and  memorializing  this  bat- 
tle site. 

Two  or  three  days  after  the  announcement  of  the  book, 
we  were  surprised  by  the  receipt  of  an  order  for  twenty- 
five  copies  from  Air.  Charles  M.  Higgins.  one  of  Brooklyn's 
most  public-spirited  citizens,  whose  strong  and  unselfish 
work  in  the  receivership  and  reopening  of  the  Brooklyn 
Bank,  after  the  recent  panic  (1907),  added  to  his  high 
standing  in  public  regard.  The  book,  therefore,  had  found 
the  "right  man,''  as  we  hoped  it  might,  though  expecting 
that  it  would,  perhaps,  require  as  many  years  as  it  had  days. 

Shortly  after  this,  the  city  was  electrified  by  Air.  Hig- 
gins' powerful  appeal  at  the  Montauk  Club  dinner — the 
permanent  preservation  and  wider  circulation  of  which  ad- 
dress is  the  main  purpose  of  this  pamphlet. 

Following  this  speech.  Air.  Higgins  sent  copies  of  The 
Stone  House  at  Gowanus  to  many  of  the  leading  men, 
public  officials,  and  to  various  clubs  and  civic  organizations 
of  which  he  is  a  member ;  among  them  the  Montauk  Club ; 
the  Prospect  Heights  Citizens'  Association  ;  South  Brooklyn 
Board  of  Trade ;  Brooklyn  League ;  Manufacturers'  Asso- 
ciation of  Xew  York  ;  Merchants'  Association  of  Xew  York ; 
New  York  Board  of  Trade  and  Transportation. 

As  a  result  of  his  enterprising  enthusiasm,  Mr.  Higgins 
soon  had  the  aid  of  the  most  progressive  men  and  organi- 
zations in  Brooklyn,  notably  the  Prospect  Heights  Citizens' 
Association,  in  whose  former  president.  Air.  Judson  G. 
"Wall,  and  its  present  president.  Air.  William  D.  Niper,  he 
found  especially  able  and  enthusiastic  supporters. 

Altogether,  the  outlook  has  become  most  promising  for 
the  accomplishment  of  a  public  work  worthy  of  the  event, 
the  place,  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  and  the  nation  at  large. 

After  all.  this  is  not  solely  Brooklyn's  affair.  It  is  the 
affair  of  everv  man  and  even*  woman  in  the  Ltnited  States 


8 


of  America — those  who  are  to-day  enjoying  the  blessings 
no  men  did  more  to  secure  than  did  those  who  fought  and 
those  who  died  around  the  Stone  House  on  the  Battlefield 
of  Long  Island.  Therefore,  the  entire  burden,  neither  of 
blame  for  neglect  nor  expense  for  restoration,  should  rest 
upon  Brooklyn.  Indeed,  the  fact  that  she  has  shown  a 
prompt  readiness  to  shoulder  the  full  responsibility  indi- 
cates that  there  is  still  much  of  the  old-time  spirit  of  hero- 
ism resident  around  the  historic  Valley  of  Gowanus. 

In  plain  words,  the  entire  nation  should  aid  in  this  move- 
ment for  a  suitable  memorial  to  the  past,  that  it  may  the 
better  serve  as  an  inspiration  for  the  future.  This  memo- 
rial will  not  alone  stand  for  the  present  and  future  citizens 
of  Brooklyn,  nor  even  for  the  millions  yet  to  occupy  the 
broad  acres  of  Long  Island  ;  but  for  other  millions  through- 
out the  land. 

No  one  thinks  of  Bunker  Mill  as  belonging  exclusively 
to  Boston ;  and  so,  in  time,  every  citizen  from  here  to  the 
Golden  Gate  will  feel  a  greater  personal  pride  and  glory 
in  his  country  because  there  stands  on  Brooklyn's  Park 
Slope^.a  fitting  symbol  of  America's  gratitude  to  Lord  Stirl- 
ing and  his  brave  band,  fired  to  almost  superhuman  exer- 
tion by  the  zeal  for  liberty  which  has  ever  distinguished 
those  whose  innate  strength  of  character  prompted  them 
to  seek  residence  on  America's  shores. 

James  Caldwell  Witter. 
New  York,  May  i8,  19 10. 


9 


COPYRIGHT  1909)  BY  WITTER  &  KINTNER. 

THE  OLD  WILLOW  TREE.—  1909. 


From  "  THE  STONE  HOUSE  AT  GOWANUS." 


Brooklyn's  Patriotic  Sacrilege 
and  Historic  Shame. 


AN    ADDRESS    BY    CHAS.    M.    HIGGINS,    AT    THE    DINNER    OF  THE 
PROSPECT   HEIGHTS  CITIZENS*  ASSOCIATION,   AT  THE 
MONTAUK  CLUB,  FER.  8,  I9IO. 

71 /T  R-  Chairman,  Mr.  Mayor,  Guests  and  Fellow  Members: 

I  ask  your  close  attention  now  to  a  matter  which  it 
seems  to  me  should  deeply  concern  all  Brooklyn.  And  while 
some  may  say  that  my  subject  is  a  matter  of  mere  senti- 
ment, yet  I  think  we  must  agree  that,  nevertheless,  mere  senti- 
ment sometimes  involves  the  deepest  obligations  and  duties  of 
human  life.  Surely  the  obligations  of  business  and  utility  are  not 
the  only  ones  that  bind  us  as  civilized  men.  and  surely,  if  there  is 
any  obligation  in  the  line  of  sentiment  which  should  be  binding 
on  us.  it  would  be  to  fittingly  honor  the  memory  of  the  patriots 
and  martyrs,  who  on  the  battlegrounds  of  our  very  neighborhood 
have  won  for  us  the  privileges  which  we  now  enjoy  here  as  free 
American  citizens  and  the  blessings  of  our  present  life  of  leisure 
and  of  peace. 

How  many  of  us  ever  stop  to  think  or  realize,  however,  that 
the  ground  about  our  very  feet  here  is  made  most  sacred  and 
historic  by  one  of  the  greatest  or  most  critical  battles  of  the 
Revolution?  It  has  been  called  the  Battle  of  Long  Island,  but 
the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  might  just  as  well  be  called  the  Battle 
of  Massachusetts,  for  no  part  of  the  large  military  movements 
and  the  severe  engagements  which  took  place  here  on  the  mem- 
orable battle  day  of  August  27.  177^.  happened  outside  of  the 
little  towns  which  now  constitute  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  while 
the  chief  engagement,  or  the  real  battle  itself,  took  place  in  the 
very  heart  of  old  Brooklyn  at  the  foot  of  our  own  Prospect 
Heights  just  about  a  stone's  throw  from  where  we  now  stand, 
at  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  Third  Street,  so  that  from 
this  hill  at  the  Park  we  could  have  overlooked  the  whole  conflict 
as  we  now  look  over  into  trie  backyards  of  our  neighbors.  This 
fact  should.  T  think,  bring  the  memory  of  this  great  historic 

11 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


event  very  close  to  our  hearts  to-night,  and  make  very  significant 
what  I  am  going  to  say  to  you. 

The  title  of  my  talk  to  you  places  practically  an  indictment 
upon  Brooklyn,  and  I  think  when  you  consider  the  extraor 
dinary  neglect,  indifference  or  oversight  to  perform  a  duty  to 
the  memory  of  our  patriot  martyrs  who  shed  their  blood  on  the 
very  grounds  about  our  feet  here,  in  what  John  Fiske  says  was 
the  first  real  battle  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  you  must 
agree  with  me  that  the  indictment  is  merited  and  the  charge  is 
none  too  strong,  as  I  will  soon  show  you. 

A  few  of  us  took  this  matter  up  in  this  Association  and  in 
other  local  associations  about  six  years  ago,  but  we  were  not  then 
able  to  make  much  impression  on  the  indifferent  ear  of  Brooklyn. 
But  we  now  hope  for  better  success,  for  this  matter  has  been 
most  opportunely  revived  by  the  publication  of  a  book  which 
I  have  here  with  me,  fresh  from  the  printer,  written  by  a 
patriotic  woman,  whose  name  may  be  spoken  with  honor 
— Miss  Georgia  Fraser.  And  may  the  gods  of  Love  and  War 
bless  her  and  hasten  the  day  when  she  and  others  like  her  can 
have  a  bigger  voice  and  vote  in  our  affairs  to  stir  up  us  indiffer- 
ent men  to  a  fuller  realization  of  our  duties. 

The  title  of  this  book  is,  "The  Stone  House  at  Gowanus, 
Scene  of  the  Battle  of  Long  Island,  etc."  I  have  presented 
this  copy  of  the  book  to  the  Montauk  Club  here,  so  that  you 
can  look  at  it  after  the  Dinner  and  see  what  it  tells  us  about  our 
gross  neglect  to  the  historic  and  sacred  places  under  our  very 
feet,  and  the  sacrilege  to  the  desecrated  and  unmonumented 
graves  of  our  heroes  buried  there. 

On  the  Menu  you  will  find  a  copy  of  the  frontispiece  from 
this  book  giving  a  view  of  the  Old  Stone  House  in  the  fore- 
ground, and  the  old  city  of  Brooklyn  in  the  background — almost 
the  entire  scene  of  the  chief  engagement  of  the  Battle  of  Long 
Island,  or  more  properly  the  Battle  of  Brooklyn,  being  thus 
shown  within  the  limits  of  this  picture. 

It  is  not  necessary  that  I  go  into  the  full  history  or  details 
of  the  Battle  of  Brooklyn,  as  to  all  the  military  movements  and 
engagements  on  that  day,  but  it  is  necessary,  I  think,  to  give 
you  a  general  outline  of  the  scene  and  its  actions,  so  that  you 
can  have  the  main  features  clearly  in  your  mind's  eye. 

n 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SIIAMK 


Now  through  the  center  of  the  old  Brooklyn  there  runs  a 
valley  which  might  be  called  the  Valley  of  Gowanus,  shown 
clearly  in  the  middleground  of  the  picture,  and  which  runs 
nearly  north  and  south,  from  Gowanus  Bay  at  the  south  to  Wall- 
about  Bay  at  the  north.  Through  the  middle  of  this  valley  ran 
the  Gowanus  Creek,  emptying  into  Gowanus  Bay  and  now  rep- 
resented by  the  Gowanus  Canal.  On  either  side  of  this  Gowanus 
Valley  arose  hills  or  high  grounds,  the  hills  known  as  Brooklyn 
Heights  being  to  the  west  of  the  Valley,  and  the  hills  known  as 
Prospect  Heights  being  to  the  east  of  the  Valley. 

Prospect  Heights  was,  of  course,  much  the  higher  and  over- 
looked both  the  Valley  and  Brooklyn  Heights.  In  the  Valley 
on  either  side  of  the  Creek  were  salt  marshes  with  upland  and 
cultivated  fields  gradually  sloping  up  to  the  hills  on  either  side. 
On  the  slopes  of  the  Valley  were  several  springs  and  little 
brooks  running  into  the  Creek,  and  the  marshes  and  Creek  were 
dammed  across  at  several  points,  forming  large  tidal  mill-ponds 
which  supplied  power  to  two  or  more  tide-mills  located  some- 
where between  what  is  now  Third  and  Union  Streets,  and  Third 
and  Fourth  Avenues.  The  Creek  and  the  ponds  thus  divided 
the  lands  on  both  sides  of  the  Valley  and  access  was  had  from 
Brooklyn  Heights  to  Prospect  Heights  by  bridges  over  or  along 
the  mill-dams.  Such  was  the  situation  and  surroundings  when 
the  Battle  of  Brooklyn  was  fought  on  August  27,  1776. 

On  the  higher  slopes  of  the  Gowanus  Valley,  just  alongside 
the  hills  of  our  own  Prospect  Heights,  among  cultivated  fields 
and  fine  trees,  there  arose  the  old  Stone  House  shown  in  the 
picture,  which  was  erected  in  1699  by  a  good  old  Dutch  archi- 
tect, neat  as  wax,  simple  as  a  child,  and  strong  as  a  fortress. 
This  was  occupied  and  used  as  a  headquarters  and  fort  by 
American  soldiers,  and  was  in  particular  charge  on  the  day  of 
the  battle,  of  Lord  or  General  Stirling,  with  the  Maryland  and 
other  troops  under  him.  The  rest  of  the  American  Army  was 
disposed  as  follows :  Part  on  Governor's  Island  and  the  lower 
end  of  Manhattan,  and  part  on  Brooklyn  Heights;  Washington 
on  August  27,  1776,  was  stationed  at  the  west  of  the  Valley  about 
where  Carroll  Park  is  now,  from  which  he  had  a  clear  view  of  the 
Stone  House  and  the  whole  battleground  of  the  last  conflict  of 
the  day.    General  Putnam  witli  a  good  force  was  stationed  on 

13 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


Fart  Greene,  but  took  no  action  in  the  battle,  and  General 
Sullivan  had  a  detachment  on  the  rim  of  Prospect  Park,  or  on  the 
edge  of  Flatbush,  prepared  to  meet  the  advance  of  the  enemy  at 
the  center.  Lord  Stirling,  early  on  the  morning  of  August  27, 
left  a  good  garrison  at  the  old  Stone  House  and  w  ith  the  Mary- 
land and  other  troops  advanced  along  Fifth  Avenue  beyond 
Greenwood  or  Lookout  Hill  to  meet  the  English  at  the  nearest 
point  at  which  they  could  strike  our  lines. 

The  English  landed  in  great  force  from  several  ships  be- 
low Fort  Hamilton  and  Gravesend  and  took  several  days  to 
prepare  and  arrange  themselves  on  land,  and  then  advanced 
in  three  main  lines  all  converging  to  the  old  Stone  House.  The 
English  General  Grant  advanced  along  Fifth  Avenue  and  met 
General  Stirling  early  in  the  morning  of  August  27,  1776,  on  the 
edge  of  the  woods  in  Greenwood  or  thereabouts,  and  a  strong 
tight  was  soon  brought  on  there,  with  Stirling  holding  his  own. 

General  De  Heister  with  the  Hessian  troops  met  General 
Sullivan  with  the  American  soldiers  on  the  edge  of  Prospect 
Park,  somewhere  near  Battle  Pass,  and  soon  defeated  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  took  Sullivan  prisoner.  Cornwallis  then  advanced  011 
the  old  Stone  House  and  defeated  the  garrison  and  took  pos- 
session there  and  turned  its  guns  on  the  Americans.  Stirling 
learning  of  this,  left  a  portion  of  his  troops  to  fight  it  out  with 
General  Grant,  and  with  the  bulk  of  his  brave  soldiers  returned 
to  the  old  Stone  House,  only  to  find  it  already  captured  by  Corn- 
wallis, its  garrison  defeated  and  its  guns  turned  on  himself.  Stirl- 
ing and  his  intrepid  Maryland  boys  now  charged  the  English 
again  and  again,  and  assisted  by  reinforcements  sent  over  the 
mill-dam  bridges  from  General  Washington's  Camp,  and  they 
with  infinite  labor  dragged  over  the  marshes  a  heavy  twelve- 
pounder  cannon  and  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  winning  the 
only  victory  of  the  day,  drove  out  the  English,  and  again  captured 
and  used  the  old  Stone  House ! 

But  this  victory  was  shortlived,  for  the  brave  Americans 
were  soon  overwhelmed  by  the  fourth  and  still  greater  division  of 
the  English  under  Generals  Howe,  Percy  and  Clinton,  who  had 
made  a  w  ide  detour  to  the  north,  and  then  descended  Straight  into 
Brooklyn,  unopposed,  from  the  Howard  House  at  Hast  Xew  York 
by  way  of  the  old  I- niton  Street  or  Atlantic  Avenue  roads.  To 

15 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


prevent  further  reinforcements  from  Washington's  Camp,  the 
English  now  set  fire  to  and  destroyed  the  mills  and  bridges  over 
the  creeks  and  ponds,  preventing  further  passage  either  way, 
and  this  caused  the  drowning  of  many  men  who  tried  to  retreat 
or  escape  from  the  now  overwhelming  odds.  Stirling  and  his 
Marylanders  then  made  their  last  stand  around  the  old  house,  and 
from  250  to  400  of  them  fell  around  this  now  sacred  spot  on  that 
day,  to  say  nothing  of  the  troops  lost  previously.  Lord  Stirling, 
however,  would  not  surrender  to  an  Englishman,  but  sought  out 
the  Hessian  General,  de  Heister,  in  Prospect  Woods,  and  there 
surrendered.  Both  Sullivan  and  Stirling  were  now  prisoners, 
and  were  soon  put  aboard  the  Prison  Ship,  but  were  afterwards 
exchanged,  and  released. 

Such,  in  brief,  was  the  so-called  Battle  of  Long  Island,  which 
would  be  much  more  properly  called  the  Battle  of  Brooklyn, 
because  it  happened,  as  we  might  say,  here  in  our  very  midst,  at 
our  feet,  our  very  doors.  That  it  was  a  very  serious  and  critical 
battle  is  obvious,  and  it  was  equally  evident  that  the  English 
well  knew  that  they  had  been  in  a  fight  that  day  and  had  been 
given  a  bitter  taste  of  true  American  mettle,  and  knew  what  they 
would  have  to  expect  through  the  rest  of  the  campaign  for  Lib- 
erty and  Independence.  And  they  seem  to  have  promptly  de- 
cided, after  the  fierce  and  splendid  sacrifice  of  the  Maryland  boys, 
that  they  had  enough  of  fighting  for  that  day  and  some  time 
after.  And  although  the  English  were  in  overwhelming  numbers 
and  force,  and  probably  could  easily  have  trapped  and  defeated 
our  whole  army  under  Washington  had  they  followed  up  the 
great  advantage  already  gained,  yet  they  seem  to  have  been  so 
worn  out  by  their  forced  marches  and  the  terrific  combat  that 
the  handful  of  Americans  gave  them  on  this  first  day  of  fighting, 
that  they  concluded  to  take  a  good  rest  and  refresh  and  fit  them- 
selves for  the  next  conflict.  Washington  held  a  council  of  war 
in  a  mansion  on  Brooklyn  Heights  that  night,  and  decided  to 
make  a  full  retreat  in  good  order  at  once,  and  a  heavy  fog  com- 
ing up  and  continuing  the  next  day  greatly  assisted  his  design, 
which  was  completed  by  the  29th  of  August,  so  that  when  the 
fog  lifted  and  the  English  felt  that  they  might  safely  risk  another 
fight  with  us — they  found  no  enemy  to  meet  them.  He  had 
departed  to  a  safe  distance  on  the  mainland,  and  thus  by  the 

15 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    ANT)    HISTORIC  SHAME 


splendid  resistance  made  on  the  battlefield  of  Brooklyn  the 
English  power  was  checked  at  its  first  great  assertion  here,  and 
our  patriot  army  under  Washington  was  saved  to  continue  the 
fight  to  give  ns  our  liberty  and  independence  as  free  American 
citizens,  which  we  enjoy  here  to-night.  And  the  proud  Corn- 
wallis  who  won  his  desperately  fought  victory  over  us  at  the 
Battle  of  Brooklyn,  lived  to  suffer  his  crushing  defeat  and  sur- 
render to  Washington  five  years  after  at  Yorktown,  Virginia. 

Now  we  hear  a  great  deal  in  song  and  story  about  other  bat- 
tles of  our  Revolution  and  other  wars,  and  we  see  many  great 
monuments  and  mementos  rising  in  and  around  our  cities  to 
fittingly  honor  the  heroes  who  fell  in  these  great  battles  and  to 
keep  fresh  in  our  minds  the  memory  of  these  brave  men  and  these 
great  events.  But  who  has  ever  heard  any  song  or  battle  hymn 
to  celebrate  our  famous  Battle  of  Brooklyn,  right  at  our  doors, 
one  of  the  most  important  or  critical  in  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion? We  have  all  heard  the  famous  song,  "The  Stcord  of 
Bunker  Hill,''  but  who  has  ever  heard  in  song  "The  Szi'ord  of 
Brooklyn  Heights" ?  Who  has  ever  heard  a  hymn  on  "The  Battle 
of  Brooklyn"?  It  is  not  yet  written.  Here,  you  poets  at  the 
MontattK  Club,  you  Algernon  and  you  Mirabeau,  here  is  a  sub- 
ject worthy  of  your  pens! 

Many  patriotic  pilgrims  go  from  all  over  the  country  to  the 
distant  Boston  to  look  at  its  celebrated  battlefield  of  Bunker 
Mill  and  its  famous  and  towering  monument  rising  above  the 
city's  roofs.  But  we  have  a  greater  shrine  than  Bunker  Hill 
here  at  our  feet,  but  as  yet  no  marker  and  no  monument  what- 
ever of  this,  our  sacred  and  historic  shrine.  Here,  Mr.  Chair- 
man and  gentlemen,  comes  in  my  indictment  of  Brooklyn. 
Here  comes  in  the  sacrilege  and  historic  shame  of  which  we 
are  guilty.  And  before  I  go  further  on  this  charge,  let  us  com- 
pare for  a  moment  the  figures  in  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  with 
our  Battle  of  Brooklyn,  according  to  the  Encyclopedias.  The 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought  June  17.  1775.  with  3000  Eng- 
lish against  1500  Americans.  The  result  was  a  defeat  for  the 
Americans  with  a  loss  of  1054  English  and  450  Americans.  The 
Battle  of  Brooklyn  was  fought  August  27.  1776,  with  15.000 
English  troops  and  8000  American  soldiers  actually  on  the 
grounds.    The  result  was  also  a  defeat  for  the  Americans  but 


I? 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


with  a  loss  of  only  about  400  to  the  English  and  about  1000 
to  the  Americans.  It  is  therefore  easy  to  see  from  the  data  here 
given  and  other  facts  before  stated  that  the  Battle  of  Brooklyn 
was  much  the  more  important  engagement  in  every  military 
and  historic  sense.  Surely  the  measure  of  patriot  blood  shed  on 
a  battlefield  is  a  true  measure  of  its  importance  in  a  patriotic 
sense,  and  we  can  see  that  measured  by  this  test  the  Battle  of 
Brooklyn  outranks  Bunker  Hill  as  two  to  one.  We  have  seen  how 
the  patriotic  Bostonians  have  celebrated  their  great  event  in  song 
and  story  and  with  glorious  monument.  But  what  has  Brooklyn 
done  to  celebrate  its  greater  battle  and  consecrate  and  monument 
its  greater  shrine?  Do  we  ever  see  or  hear  of  any  patriotic  pil 
grims  going  to  the  shrine  of  our  great  battlefield  and  monument? 
Do  we  ever  see  anyone  on  Memorial  Day  bringing  wreaths  and 
flowers  to  deck  the  sacred  spot  in  the  very  midst  of  our  old  Brook- 
lyn which  is  or  should  be  one  of  the  greatest  shrines  in  the  patri- 
otic history  of  our  city  and  our  nation?  Oh,  the  historic  and  the 
patriotic  shame  of  Brooklyn  !  Come  with  me  for  a  few  minutes 
to  the  double  block  a  few  steps  from  here,  bounded  by  Third  and 
Fifth  Streets  and  Fifth  and  Fourth  Avenues,  and  I  will  show  you 
how  we  Brooklynites  and  Xew  Yorkers  treat  our  great  historic 
and  patriotic  shrines. 

Look  at  that  old  weeping  willow  tree  rising  out  of  heaps 
of  ashes  behind  those  cheap  tenement  houses  at  the  corner  of 
Third  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue,  with  pulley-lines  reaching  out  to 
this  our  sacred  tree.  That  tree  marks  the  site  of  the  Old  Stone 
House  where  our  heroes  fell  in  the  great  historic  battle  of 
Brooklyn. 

And  what  have  we  done  with  the  sacred  shrine  itself — the 
Old  Stone  House?  We  have  torn  down  its  upper  stories, 
thrown  the  stones  into  the  interior,  every  stone  sacral  and 
consecrated  by  the  blood  of  a  patriot,  .sad  we  have  covered 
the  whole  glorious  and  sacred  shrine  with  dirt !  With  dirt 
until  every  vestige  of  the  original  scene  of  the  battlefield 
is  obliterated.  Yes.  of  the  whole  field  itself  we  have  made 
a  dumping  ground  for  years  for  the  filth  of  our  streets  and 
we  also  use  it  now  and  then  for  a  circus  camp  where 
clowns  and  monkeys  prance  over  the  graves  of  our  heroes  on 
what  is  perhaps  the  most  sacred  shrine  of  patriotism  in  our 

19 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


whole  city.  This  is  a  specimen  of  Brooklyn's  patriotic  sense, 
of  its  historic  sense,  and  its  patriotic  gratitude.  Have  I  not, 
therefore,  gentlemen  of  this  Court  and  Jury,  now  carried  my 
indictment  home  to  Brooklyn,  and  must  not  your  verdict  be 
Guilty,  without  leaving  your  seats? 

If  our  enemies  and  haters  had  deliberately  designed  to  dese- 
crate our  sacred  and  holy  places,  to  execrate  the  glorious  deeds 
of  our  heroes,  to  obliterate  all  location  and  memory  of  them, 
they  could  not  have  done  worse  than  we  ourselves  have  actually 
done  on  this,  our  famous  battleground  of  Brooklyn. 

Mr.  Mayor  of  our  greatest  city,  are  you  going  to  stand  for 
any  further  continuation  of  this  shame?  Mr.  President  of  our 
greatest  Borough,  are  you  going  to  stand  any  longer  for  this 
condition  of  affairs  ?  Mr.  Kennedy,  our  best  Park  Commissioner, 
can  you  stand  for  this  shameful  dumping  ground  where  we  should 
have  a  sacred  Park?*  Men  of  Brooklyn,  can  you  any  longer 
stand  for  this  local  disgrace? 

And  now,  Mr.  Public  Service  Commissioner,  let  me  say  this 
to  you :  In  a  few  days  your  Fourth  Avenue  Subway  diggers 
will  be  digging  through  and  across  our  sacred  battlefield.  Let 
us  now  ask  you  to  instruct  them  to  look  wistfully  for  the  relics 
of  our  buried  heroes,  to  handle  them  tenderly  and  preserve  them 
carefully  till  we  can  give  them  fitting  honor. 

I  have  said,  I  think,  that  we  had  no  memorial  or  marker 
whatever  except  the  old  willow  tree  on  the  site  of  the  battle- 
field. There  is  one  slight  exception  to  this,  however,  which  in 
itself  is  even  discreditable  to  Brooklyn.  On  the  wall  of  the  tene- 
ment house,  corner  of  Third  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue,  will  be 
found  a  bronze  tablet  giving  a  record  of  the  gallant  fight  by 
the  Maryland  soldiers  around  the  old  Stone  House  on  the 
battle  day  of  August  27,  1776.  But  this  marker  would  hardly 
be  noticed  by  the  average  passerby  along  the  sidewalk  unless  his 
attention  was  called  to  it,  and  what  makes  it  actually  disgraceful 
to  us  is  that  this  meager  marker  was  not  put  there  by  the  people 
of  Brooklyn  but  by  the  people  of  Maryland  or  by  the  national 
society  known  as  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution. 

*It  should  be  called  "Battle  Park"  and  include  a  splendid  monument 
with  the  "OLD  STONE  HOUSE"  resurrected  from  beneath  the  sod  and 
restored  as  a  Museum  of  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  Relics,  with  a  Children's 
Playground  at  a  suitable  distance. — C.  M.  H. 

20 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    ANT)    HISTORIC  SHAME 


The  only  real  marker  or  monument  on  the  field  is,  therefore, 
after  all,  the  old  weeping  willow  tree ;  fitting  indeed  that  it 
should  be  a  zeeeping  willow,  for  it  seems  to  be  the  only  thing 
that  has  wept  over  the  graves  of  our  heroes  for  all  these  years 
and  wept  also  for  our  neglect  and  disgrace  in  this  matter.  Here 
surely  is  Brooklyn's  Tree  of  Liberty,  greater  to  us  than  tin- 
Charter  Oak  of  Hartford.  Oh,  Mr.  Park  Commissioner,  won't 
you  tenderly  take  some  shoots  or  slips  from  this  sacred  tree  to 
your  propagating  houses  and  raise  from  them  hundreds  of  scions 
which  can  be  planted  as  little  trees  of  liberty  in  every  park  and 
public  square  of  our  city  and  which  can  be  given  to  our  school 
children  on  Arbor  Days  to  plant  as  a  memorial  of  the  heroes 
who  fought  for  our  liberty  at  our  own  doorsteps  and  as  a  better 
lesson  in  patriotism  and  devotion  for  our  rising  generation  to 
follow  than  our  fathers  seem  to  have  given  to  us? 

Mr.  Chairman,  my  Druid  ancestors  have,  I  think,  made  me  a 
zeorsliipper  of  trees:  Trees  have  souls  and  they  ever  speak  to 
us  out  of  the  dead  past  into  the  living  present.  I  have  visited 
this  old  willow  tree  and  have  listened  to  its  complaint.  I  have 
taken  down  what  it  has  said  to  me,  and  now  give  you  this  message 
from  it.  Listen  to  what  it  says  to  you :  "My  roots  grow  out  of 
the  bosoms  of  buried  patriots.  My  growth  has  been  fertilized  by 
the  blood  of  your  departed  heroes  who  fell  beneath  my  shade  to 
give  you  Liberty  and  Independence.  Year  after  year  I  have 
raised  my  now  tcttering  trunk  above  the  graves  of  these  buried 
heroes,  the  only  monument  to  their  memories.  Every  year  for 
more  than  a  century  I  have  moaned  and  groaned,  unheeded  by 
you,  with  every  sighing  wind  that  has  blown  over  this  battlefield, 
at  the  indignities  that  your  neglect  has  placed  upon  this  sacred 
spot  and  upon  these  glorious  men  buried  here.  T  have  wept,  as 
only  I  can  weep,  for  more  than  a  century  of  years,  have  wept 
over  the  desecrated  graves  of  these  forgotten  heroes  at  the 
damnable  sin  of  neglect  of  you  and  your  fathers  and  your  grand- 
fathers to  provide  a  fitting  memorial  of  the  sacrifice  which  these 
heroes  made  here  to  give  you  Liberty  and  Independence.  And 
I  shall  continue  to  weep  and  groan  until  your  duty  is  fulfilled  to 
them.  I  shall  continue  to  be  their  memorial  and  monument  until 
you  erect  a  better  one.  and  then,  and  only  then,  shall  I  be  con- 
tent to  molder  and  mingle  with  their  sacred  dust." 

21 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


Oh  woodman!    Spare  THAT  tree, 

Touch  not  a  single  bough ; 
For  in  youth  it  sheltered  thee — you  heroes, 

And  we'll  protect  it  now. 

And  now,  having'  said  my  say,  I  ask  you  this:  Men  of  the 
old  city  of  Brooklyn,  men  of  the  great  City  of  New  York,  in 
the  presence  of  our  beloved  Mayor,  I  ask  you :  What  arc  you 
going  to  do  about  this?  What  arc  you  going  to  do  to  atone 
for  our  patriotic  sacrilege  and  to  wipe  out  our  historic  shame? 

In  conclusion  I  shall  ask  the  Toastmaster  to  propose  this 
toast  to  our  heroes  of  the  Battle  of  Brooklyn  : — 

"To  the  memories  of  our  heroes  zvho  fell  in  the  famous  Battle 
of  Brooklyn,  and  to  the  hope  that  ice  soon  may  atone  for  our  long 
neglect  by  erecting  a  fitting  memorial  to  them  on  the  sacred  field 
of  their  saerifiec." 

'Its  fate  is  like  that  of  the  Hancock  House  in  Boston,  and 
within  a  few  years  it  will  be  too  late  to  restore  this  monument 
of  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  times." 

BOSTON  EVENING  TRANSCRIPT. 

"  'The  Stone  House  at  Gowanus'  bears  the  same  relation 
to  that  bitter  struggle  that  the  Chew  Mansion  did  to  the  Battle 
of  Germantown.  It  is  even  more  important  as  a  national  relic." 

PHILADELPHIA  NORTH  AMERICAN. 

"The  author  of  this  excellent  account  of  the  Stone  House 
declares  that  it  would  be  possible  to  uncover  the  spring  and 
the  brook,  and  to  unearth  and  set  up  the  Old  House  practically 
in  its  integrity. 

"That  something  of  the  kind  should  be  done  is  strongly 
urged — this  restoration  becoming  part  of  a  scheme  to  create, 
in  that  neighborhood,  a  small  park  as  a  memorial  of  the  battle. 

"It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  house  was  demolished. 
Had  the  American  Scenic  and  Historic  Preservation  Society 
been  then  in  existence,  it  seems  unlikely  that  its  destruction 
would  have  been  permitted." 

THE  LITERARY  DIGEST 


Site  of  the  Battle  of  Long  Island — History  and 
Present  Status  of  the  Efforts  to  have  it 
Acquired  by  the  City  of  New  York. 

^PHE  site  of  the  chief  engagement  of  the  Battle  of  Long  Island, 


really  the  Battle  of  Brooklyn,  fought  August  27,  1776, 
consists  of  two  city  blocks,  bounded  on  the  north  by  Third  Street, 
on  the  south  by  Fifth  Street,  on  the  east  by  Fifth  Avenue,  and 
on  the  west  by  Fourth  Avenue.  It  is  almost  all  vacant  lots  ex- 
cept along  the  Fifth  Avenue  front,  where  there  are  a  number  of 
small  and  inexpensive  buildings.  The  assessed  valuation  of  the 
land  alone  is  about  $260,000  and  of  the  land  and  buildings  about 
$300,000.  The  Litchfield  estate  owns  about  nine-tenths  of  the 
property  and  the  rest  of  the  property  is  owned  by  about  five  or 
six  owners  holding  small  parcels  all  along  the  Fifth  Avenue  front. 
It  is  believed  that  the  property  can  be  purchased  by  the  City  for 
a  fair  present  valuation  of  about  $500,000  to  $550,000. 

One  of  the  first  efforts  in  recent  times  to  bring  about  the 
purchase  of  these  historic  grounds  for  patriotic  and  historic  rea- 
sons as  a  monumental  reservation  to  commemorate  the  great 
Battle  of  Long  Island  and  to  also  serve  the  purpose  of  a  Public 
Park  and  Playground,  was  inaugurated  in  October,  1904,  by 
the  South  Brooklyn  Board  of  Trade  and  the  Prospect  Heights 
Citizens'  Association.  These  two  bodies  are  local  civic  associa- 
tions of  Brooklyn  nearest  to  the  site  of  this  historic  battleground, 
and  have  a  large  membership  and  considerable  influence  and 
activity  in  local  civic  affairs.  Judge  Gaynor  has  been  Vice- 
President  of  the  latter  Association  since  its  organization  and 
until  his  inauguration  as  Mayor. 

Following  the  agitation  started  by  the  two  civic  associations 
named  for  the  purchase  of  these  historic  grounds,  the  Local 
Aldermanic  Board  of  the  Prospect  Heights  District  on  Novem- 
ber 30,  1904,  adopted  resolutions  in  formal  legal  manner,  as 
required  by  the  City  Charter,  recommending  the  purchase  of 
these  grounds  by  the  City  for  park  purposes.    This  recommenda- 


24 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAM! 


tion  of  the  Local  Board  of  the  Aldermatiic  District,  however, 
was  later  on  rejected  by  the  Special  Committee  of  the  Board  of 
Estimate,  as  shown  by  the  following  official  record  and  report 
which  herewith  follows : 

Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment, 

June  14.  1907. 
Laying  Ont  Park  Bounded  by  Fourth  and  Fifth  Avenues, 
Third  and  Fifth  Streets,  Brooklyn. 

The  Comptroller  asked  unanimous  consent  for  the  present 
consideration  of  a  report  from  the  committee  to  which  this  matter 
was  referred  on  April  19,  1907. 

No  objection  being  made,  the  following  report  was  presented : 

June  3,  1907. 
To  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment: 

Gentlemen — At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  held  on  the  19th  day 
of  April,  1907,  there  was  referred  to  a  committee  consisting  of 
the  Comptroller,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and 
the  President  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  the  matter  of  laying 
out  of  a  public  park  bounded  by  Fourth  and  Fifth  Avenues, 
Third  and  Fifth  Streets,  in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn.  Attached 
to  the  papers  was  a  copy  of  a  report  of  the  Chief  Engineer  of 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  Air.  Nelson  P.  Lewi-, 
in  which  it  was  shown  that  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  property 
is  $233,500. 

The  City  already  has  under  condemnation  proceedings  a  large 
tract  of  land  on  Fourth  Avenue,  between  First  and  Second 
Streets,  upon  which  there  are  taxes  due  the  City  amounting  to 
almost  as  much  as  the  property  is  worth,  and  also  across  the 
street  on  the  north  side  of  First  Street,  there  is  an  additional 
tract  of  land  under  similar  conditions  in  regard  to  the  amount 
due  the  City  for  taxes,  which  is  being  acquired  for  playground 
purposes. 

The  proposed  park  is  within  four  blocks  of  Prospect  Park, 
which  is  located  at  Ninth  Avenue  and  which  has  an  entrance  on 
Third  Street. 

The  present  financial  condition  of  the  City  is  such  that  your 
Committee  cannot  recommend  the  laying  out  on  the  map  of  this 
public  park  bounded  by  Fourth  and  Fifth  Avenue-.  Third  and 

25 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


Fifth  Streets.  We,  therefore,  recommend  that  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  Local  Board  of  the  Prospect  Heights  District, 
Borough  of  Brooklyn,  on  November  30,  1904,  recommending  to 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  a  change  in  the  map 
of  the  City  by  laying  out  as  a  public  park  the  two  blocks  bounded 
by  Fourth  and  Fifth  Avenues,  Third  and  Fifth  Streets,  be 
rejected. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

H.  A.  Metz,  Comptroller. 

P.  F.  McGowax,  Pres.  B.  of  A. 

Bird  S.  Coler,  Pres.  B.  of  B. 

The  following  resolution  was  then  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  of 
the  City  of  Xew  York  hereby  rejects  the  resolution  adopted  by 
the  Local  Board  of  the  Prospect  Heights  District,  Borough  of 
Brooklyn,  on  November  30,  1904,  recommending  the  laying  out 
of  a  public  park,  bounded  by  Fourth  and  Fifth  Avenues,  Third 
and  Fifth  Streets,  Brooklyn. 

Affirmative :  The  Mayor,  the  Comptroller,  the  President  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Presidents  of  the  Boroughs  of 
Manhattan,  Brooklyn,  the  Bronx,  Queens  and  Richmond. — 16. 

In  these  former  official  proceedings  little  or  no  stress,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  been  laid  on  the  fact  of  the  great  historic 
and  patriotic  reasons  for  acquiring  these  grounds  as  being  the 
site  of  one  of  the  most  important  or  critical  battles  of  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  which  feature  appears  to  have  been  largely- 
lost  sight  of  in  the  proceedings  before  the  City  officials  and 
stress  laid  chiefly  on  the  desirability  of  acquiring  these  grounds 
for  mere  park  purposes  only. 

When  we  consider,  however,  that  we  have  here  a  most  sacred 
piece  of  ground  right  in  the  heart  of  the  present  Borough  of 
Brooklyn,  soon  to  be  the  greatest  borough  in  our  whole  city, 
on  which  the  first  battle  of  the  American  people  as  a  Nation 
was  fought — the  first  battle  after  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, we  have  a  much  greater  reason  for  acquiring  this  site 
than  for  any  mere  park  purpose  alone.     That  this  Battle  of 

26 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


Brooklyn  was  a  far  more  important  and  portentous  event  than 
either  Concord,  Lexington  or  Bunker  Hill — great  and  significant 
and  sacred  to  all  Americans  as  they  were — will  be  obvious  on  a 
little  consideration,  for  here  the  entire  Army  of  Washington  was 
saved  from  capture  by  an  English  force  three  times  its  number, 
and  here  the  life  of  our  young  nation  was  saved  literally  at  its 
very  cradling!  Surely  this  is  distinction  enough  to  confer  on  any 
spot  the  greatest  historic  and  patriotic  importance:  And  if  this 
distinction  does  not  make  this  spot  to  the  people  of  Brooklyn  and 
Xew  York  a  shrine  most  valuable  and  sacred  in  every  historic 
and  patriotic  sense,  we  would  like  someone  to  point  out  any 
other  spot  in  the  whole  city  or  State,  or  even  in  the  nation 
itself,  of  greater  distinction  or  importance  as  a  patriotic  or  his- 
toric shrine :  And  it  of  course  follows  that  the  greatest  historic 
and  patriotic  duty  rests  on  the  city  to  acquire  this  site  as  a 
monumental  reservation  to  fittingly  honor  the  memory  of  the 
heroes  and  patriots  who  fell  there  to  save  this  nation  at  its  very 
birth  and  give  us  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  independence  which 
we  would  certainly  have  lost  if  these  heroes  had  not  made  their 
great  and  almost  forgotten  sacrifice  for  us  on  that  never-to-be- 
forgotten  battle  day  of  August  27,  1776.  right  in  the  heart  of 
our  old  Brooklyn.  Brooklyn  and  Xew  York  can  therefore  no 
longer  neglect  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  the  memory  of  these 
heroes,  and  to  the  great  patriotic  and  historic  event  here  enacted, 
and  to  do  so  would  surely  make  us  out  as  being  barbarians  to 
every  instinct  of  patriotic  gratitude  and  historic  appreciation  and 
fittingly  disgrace  us  in  the  eyes  of  every  city,  state  and  nation 
or  the  face  of  the  earth. 

It  is  time,  therefore,  that  the  citizens  of  Brooklyn  and  Xew 
York  make  amends  for  their  extrordinary  oversight  and  neglect 
of  a  binding  historic  and  patriotic  duty  by  now  taking  step-  [<  >r 
the  immediate  purchase  of  these  historic  grounds  as  a  monu- 
mental reservation  and  public  park,  and  in  due  time  fittingly 
restoring  old  landmarks  thereon  and  erecting  a  grand  and  suit- 
able battle  monument  by  City,  State  and  National  action. 

W  hile  this  site  has,  of  course,  the  greatest  local  historic  and 
patriotic  significance,  yet  its  significance  is  far.  too  great  to  be 
merely  local,  as  it  has  in  fact  National  significance  and  interest  in 
the  fullest  sense,  for,  as  we  have  already  said,  here  the  first  battle 

27 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


of  the  American  Nation  was  fought,  and  here  the  Nation  itself 
was  saved  at  its  birth. 

The  Brooklyn  League,  South  Brooklyn  Board  of  Trade,  and 
Prospect  Heights  Citizens'  Association  have  passed  resolutions 
for  the  purchase  of  these  historic  grounds. 

The  following  are  the  resolutions  passed  by  the 

PROSPECT    HEIGHTS    CITIZENS'  ASSOCIATION. 

Resolutions  for  acquiring  the  ground  site  of  the  Battle  of 
Long  Island  by  the  City  of  New  York  for  a  Monumental  Reser- 
vation and  Public  Park. 

Passed  unanimously  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Prospect 
Heights  Citizens'  Association,  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Board, 
April  6,  191  o. 

Whereas,  Brooklyn  has  within  our  own  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Prospect  Heights  District  one  of  the  greatest  patriotic 
and  historic  sites  in  the  whole  City  of  New  York.  This  locality 
is  the  site  of  what  is  known  as  "The  Old  Stone  House  at 
Gowanus"  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  Third  Street. 
Brooklyn,  and  including  the  double  block  bounded  by  Third 
and  Fifth  Streets  and  Fourth  and  Fifth  Avenues,  now  chiefly 
vacant  lots.  On  this  ground  and  surrounding  the  old  Stone- 
House,  which  is  now  buried  about  sixteen  feet  below  the  grade 
of  the  present  streets,  was  fought  the  Battle  of  Long  Island  on 
August  27,  1776,  which  was  one  of  the  most  critical  in  the  War 
of  the  Revolution,  more  important  in  a  military,  historic  and 
patriotic  sense  than  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  because  it  held  in 
check  the  great  army  of  the  British,  outnumbering  ours  three 
to  one,  and  enabled  Washington  to  make  a  full  and  orderly 
retreat,  and  thus  saved  not  only  the  American  Army  but  we 
might  say  our  nation  itself  at  its  very  birth,  as  this  battle  was 
the  first  conflict  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  and, 

Whereas,  The  Prospect  Heights  Citizens'  Association  notes 
and  regrets  the  extraordinary  oversight  and  neglect  of  the  people 
of  Brooklyn  in  particular,  and  of  New  York  in  general,  both  in 
the  present  and  past  generations,  to  reserve  or  monument  in 
any  proper  way  the  site  of  this  great  Battle  of  Brooklyn,  which 
was  of  such  great  local  interest  and  of  such  real  national  im- 

28 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILECiK    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


portance  in  both  a  historic  and  patriotic  sense;  and  it  i>  therefore 
now 

Resolved,  That  as  an  urgent  patriotic  and  historic  duty  incum- 
bent on  the  entire  city,  we  recommend  the  purchase  by  the  City 
of  the  site  of  what  is  known  as  the  Old  Stone  House  of  Gowanus, 
including  the  two  city  blocks  before  described,  which  was  the 
site  of  the  chief  engagement  of  the  historic  Battle  of  Brooklyn 
and  the  point  towards  which  all  the  English  lines  converged  on 
that  day  of  battle,  and  which  is  now  located  within  the  heart  of 
our  Borough  of  Brooklyn.    And  it  is  further 

Resolved,  That  the  ground  referred  to  be  used  in  part  for  a 
monumental  reservation  and  in  part  as  a  public  park  or  play- 
ground and  that  it  be  called  "Battlefield  Park."  That  the  Old 
Stone  House  be  restored  and  that  steps  be  taken,  in  due  time, 
for  the  erection  on  this  ground  of  a  grand  Battle  Monument  by 
combined  City,  State  and  National  action.    And  be  it  further 

Resolved,  That  we  suggest  to  each  of  the  owners  of  these 
lands  that  they  owe  a  patriotic  and  historic  duty  to  themselves 
and  every  other  citizen  to  arrive  at  a  fair,  just  and  true  valuation 
of  these  grounds,  which  will  be  mutually  satisfactory  to  the  city 
and  to  themselves  and  lead  to  the  early  purchase  by  the  city, 
without  unnecessary  cost,  expense  or  delay ;  and  that  such  agree- 
ment, free  from  any  merely  sordid  considerations,  on  the  part 
of  these  owners,  with  the  city,  would  be  a  most  honorable  and 
public-spirited  act,  worthy  of  the  great  historic  and  patriotic  duty 
which  all  citizens  of  this  great  city  owe  to  the  memory  of  the 
thousand  or  more  heroes  of  the  Revolution  who  fell  on  these 
sacred  battlegrounds  to  give  us  the  blessings  which  we  now 
enjoy  of  Liberty  and  Independence  as  free  American  citizens. 

Resolved,  That  copies  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  each 
of  the  owners  of  these  historic  grounds,  to  the  Mayor  of  the  City, 
to  the  Borough  President,  to  each  member  of  the  Board  of 
Estimate,  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  to  the  public  press. 

The  above  Resolutions  have  been  referred  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  with  full  power,  and  they  will  co-operate  with  the 
Committee  of  The  South  Brooklyn  Board  of  Trade  to  bring 
about  the  purchase  by  the  City  of  these  historic  grounds  at  an 
early  day  if  possible. 

20 


BROOKLYN'S    PATRIOTIC    SACRILEGE    AND    HISTORIC  SHAME 


THE  SOUTH  BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  TRADE. 

The  South  Brooklyn  Board  of  Trade  passed  similar  resolutions 
and  placed  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  the  following  Committee : 

Charles  M.  Higgins,  Chairman; 

Hon.  William  M.  Calder,  Member  of  Congress ; 

Charles  H.  Ebbetts,  President  Brooklyn  Baseball  Club ; 

John  E.  Gavin,  Ex-President  South  Brooklyn  Board  of  Trade ; 

F.  C.  Sauter,  Real  Estate ; 

Hon.  Michael  Furst; 

Hon.  Michael  E.  Butler. 

F.  W.  H.  Nelson,  President,  ex-officio. 


T5he  STONE 
HOUSE  AT 
GOWANUS 

GEORGIA 
FRAS E R 

A    NEW  LIGHT  upon  the  Battle  of  Long  Island 
— a  brilliant  account  of  the  first  real  battle  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  ;    describing,  as  never  before,  the 
scene  of  one  of  the  most  heroic  actions  in  the  history 
of  America's  struggle   for   freedom,    &    ^  js> 

"The  Author  has  gathered  all  of  the  accessible  data,  including  several  rare 
pictures  and  manuscripts  not  heretofore  presented  to  public  view.''— 

The  North  American,  Philadelphia. 

"It  must  be  of  special  appeal  to  young  and  old  Brooklynites. 
The   chapters   on  the  Battle  of    Long  Island  and  the  Stone  House  as  a  fort 
are  among  the  most    interesting    in    the  book."  —  Brooklyn  Daily  Ragle. 


THE  STONE  HOUSE  AT  GOWANUS,  by  Georgia 
Fraser.  Gold  Stamp  and  Top.     Richly  illustrated; 

14  full-page  sepia  tint  half-tones  on  India-tint  paper.  Text  on 
fine  antique,  deckle  edge  paper.     Price,  S2.50  Postpaid. 


HOTOGRAPHS  of  the  Grube  Painting  of  the  Stone   House  —  the 
picture  which  inspired  the  author  to  write  the  above-described  book. 

A    LIMITED  number  of  the  first  reproductions  ever  made 
of  the  most  famous  painting  in  America  of  an  actual 
historic  scene,  will  be  furnished  on  special  order. 

Sepia    Carbons    in    Three  Sizes 
$5.00;    .$10.00;    $25.00.  j* 
Write      for    Full  Description. 


WITTER   AND  KINTNER 

503  FIFTH  AVENUE      NEW  YORK  CITY 


^ERf 
clevis 


